The Most Iconic Bridal Beauty Looks of All Time

Brides on the hunt for the ultimate in aisle-worthy beauty often find themselves scouring the internet (and Pinterest), eager to glean ideas from weddings past. Be it celebrity, royal or simply iconic, brides throughout history set the bar for the do's and don'ts in wedding hair and makeup. To streamline your bridal beauty planning, we've rounded up the best of the best throughout the ages–from the royals best tiaras and the bold lips we loved and the most groundbreaking celebrity wedding hair.

For her controversial 1937 wedding to Edward VIII, the Duke of Windsor, Wallis Simpson donned a halo shaped hat rather than a veil, which she paired with her soft blue gown and a stunning diamond and sapphire brooch at her neck.

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Norma Jeane–aka Marilyn Monroe, 1942

At the age of 16, Marilyn Monroe (who then went by her given name, Norma Jeane) married Jim Dougherty in 1942. Her coiffed hair and traditional veil were a classic choice for the first of her three wedding days.

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Queen Elizabeth II, 1947

Queen Elizabeth II has maintained a style sense of classic-with-a-twist for decades. Case in point: her sweetly traditional bridal look for her wedding to Prince Phillip in the late '40s, in which she donned an undeniably 'bridal' look–paired with a tiara with some edge.

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Elizabeth Taylor, 1950

Elizabeth Taylor, arguably the queen of weddings and inventive bridal styling, opted for classic and traditional when she wed Conrad Hilton in 1950. The bride paired her look with an encrusted tiara and a full, fingertip-length veil.

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Ava Gardner, 1951

For her 1951 wedding to Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner embodied the classic, coiffed trends of the time–appearing polished and the best version of her on-screen self. A bit of a break in tradition, Gardner opted to skip the veil for her third marriage.

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Brigitte Bardot, 1952

Before Bardot became the quintessential blond bombshell we all remember, she wed her first husband, Roger Vadim, in a winter wedding with a short haircut, minimal makeup and a circular cap, to which her appliquéd veil was attached.

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Elizabeth Taylor, 1952

Elizabeth Taylor began her love of bridal hair flowers with her curly crop for her wedding to British actor Michael Wilding in 1952.

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Jacqueline Kennedy, 1953

For her wedding to JFK, Jackie O opted for a natural yet polished look to complement her Ann Lowe portrait-neckline gown. She accented her look with an all-lace veil tucked into a soft juliet cap with fabric flower appliqués.

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Audrey Hepburn, 1954

For her wedding to Mel Ferrer, Audrey Hepburn completed her mock-neck look, designed by Pierre Balmain, with a flower crown of white roses. It appears that Hepburn ushered in this Coachella-credited trend that's become ubiquitous in modern-day boho bridal–despite hers being anything but hippie.

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Marilyn Monroe, 1954

For her best known nuptials, her elopement to baseball great Joe DiMaggio in 1954, Monroe kept it simple and dressed like the best, most recognizable version of her on-camera persona: blond as can be, a pin-curled bob and enviable lashes.

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Grace Kelly, 1956

For her iconic wedding to Price Rainier of Monaco in 1956, Grace Kelly wore a red-hued lip, a floral-adorned crown and veil and natural, yet defined, eyeliner. Her look, while undeniably classic, was also incredibly fashion-forward and continues to be a source of bridal beauty inspiration.

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Marilyn Monroe, 1956

Marilyn's final walk down the aisle, this time with playwright Arthur Miller, was the perfect combination of fashion-forward and timeless. Monroe opted for her classic look, paired with an atypical chin-length veil to complement her body-con, cocktail-length dress.

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Elizabeth Taylor, 1957

No stranger to bridal beauty, Elizabeth Taylor opted for bombshell glamour and effortless, voluminous waves for her 1957 wedding to Michael Todd.

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Brigitte Bardot, 1957

In keeping with stars dressing for their weddings the way they would on-screen, Brigitte Bardot looked like the ultimate beach-blond bombshell for her 1959 wedding to Jacques Charrier. The starlet made her eyes (via a wide liner) the focal point, and kept hair breezy and her lip a natural shade of just-bitten pink.

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Elizabeth Taylor, 1959

For her fourth marriage to Eddie Fisher in Las Vegas after the death of Michael Todd (Fisher was the best man in Todd and Taylor's wedding and the father of Carrie Fisher), Elizabeth Taylor opted for a bridal headscarf in the same unconventional hue as her dress, winged liner and a mauve-meets-pink lip.

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Elizabeth Taylor, 1964

Elizabeth Taylor's first (of two) weddings to Richard Burton–which took place nine days after her divorce from Eddie Fisher–resulted in some of the most iconic bridal hair to date. Case in point: her unbelievable fresh-flower adorned, extra-long twisted ponytail for their vow exchange in 1964.

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Mia Farrow, 1966

Mia Farrow wed Frank Sinatra in Dior–and in an easy, gamine pixie cut that has come to epitomize the best in chic, sweet and mod bridal hair.

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Liza Minelli, 1967

Liza Minelli's wedding, just one year after Farrow's, followed suit in regard to the short crop she donned, but Minnelli chose to go in a different direction with her makeup. Rather than barely-there, the singer and actress chose a cat wing liner that felt like a sultry contrast to her super-conservative wedding gown.

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Priscilla Presley, 1967

When Priscilla and Elvis Presley wed, the young bride set the tone for the best in rock-and-roll bridal vibes: short dress, big hair, whimsical tiara and a voluminous veil–paired with wide, winged eyeliner.

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Audrey Hepburn, 1969

Hepburn wed Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti in a city hall wedding in Switzerland, setting the bar for all civil ceremonies going forward. The actress opted to work with friend and designer Hubert de Givenchy for this look, which included white tights and ballerina flats. The sweet and chic look prompted an ease with her makeup, and a mod fringe, paired with a headscarf to match.

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Bianca Jagger, 1971

If there is a bridal trailblazer throughout history worth noting, its Bianca Jagger. This bride set trends in almost every aspect of her bridal style–from wedding day suiting, to no-makeup makeup to veil-topped (wide-brimmed) bridal hats.

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Farrah Fawcett, 1973

The Charlie's Angel donned an all-American version of Bianca Jagger's wedding day look for her 1973 nuptials to Lee Majors–sporting a similar wide-brimmed hat (an iconic shape for the '70s) with her signature coif and a more bohemian flair.

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Marisa Berenson, 1976

Berenson is the ultimate bohemian bride with her off-the-shoulder neckline, smoky bronze eyeshadow and bronzed complexion and a collection of tropical blooms in her side-swept beach waves.

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Diana, Princess of Wales, 1981

Princess Diana wore what is arguably the most over-the-top wedding gown in history–and as a result, she kept her beauty look simple, young and fresh. Her hair, which was also kept polished but low-key to balance out her gown's monarch-length train, was capped with a true tiara (this one actually has royal heritage unlike the others we've seen until this point!) and an equally dramatic veil.

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Diana Ross, 1986

The legend wore not one, but three, hair accessories for her marriage to Norwegian businessman Arne Næss Jr., pairing silk hair flowers with a dainty tiara, a traditional veil and bold, smoky eyes that didn't ditch the disco liner for the aisle.

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Mariah Carey, 1993

For her wedding to Tommy Motola, Mariah Carey sported quintessentially '90s beauty–case in point: the perm, the shaped brows and the mauve lip color.

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Victoria Beckham, 1999

For her wedding to superstar footballer David Beckham, Victoria Beckham channeled equal parts princess and posh spice, sporting the short crop she donned during her music career heyday to complement (rather than compete) with her larger than life Vera Wang ball gown.

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Gwen Stefani, 2002

Meet the ultimate in bridal braids. Gwen Stefani made braids edgy-meets-classic for her 2002 wedding to rocker Gavin Rossdale.

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